Africa Prudential Posts 32% Decline in Revenue in H1, 2020

Africa Prudential Plc revenue declined by 32 percent from N870 million recorded in the first half of 2019 to N590 million in the first half of 2020.

In the unaudited financial statement released on Thursday through the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the company’s gross earnings decline by 7 percent from N2.01 billion filed in the corresponding period of 2019 to N1.87 billion in the first half of 2020.

However, profit before tax increase by 1 percent to N1.22 billion, up from N1.21 billion achieved in the first half of 2019.

This improvement trickled down to profit after tax (PAT) as Africa Prudential reported 5 percent increase in PAT from N1.03 billion in H1, 2019 to N1.08 billion in H1, 2020.

The company’s interest income rose by 12 percent year-on-year to N1.28 billion, up from N1.14 billion attained in H1, 2019.

Total assets rose by 23 percent year-on-year from N18.65 billion in H1 2020 to N22.89 billion. While total liabilities also increased by 44 percent to N14.97 Billion, up N10.37 billion.

Shareholders’ Fund declined by 4 percent from N8.28 billion to N7.92 Billion during the period under review.

Earnings per share improved to 54 kobo from 51 kobo recorded in the same period of 2019.

Speaking on the result, the Managing Director/CEO of Africa Prudential, Mr. Obong Idiong, said: “With the continued prevalence of Covid-19 in Q2, the global economy has been drastically affected by the impact of the pandemic as evident from the revision of the world economy growth rate projection from -3.0% to -4.9%. Locally, Nigeria has not been exempted from the effect with the Finance Minister predicting a shrink of 8.9% in Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and possible recession in 2020. Our Q1 results showed the impact of the pandemic on our business, however we have been able to put in place structures to help us maximize the current business cycle. Through this structure we were able to achieve an impressive quarter-on-quarter results, increasing gross earnings by 52% and PAT by 144%. We were also able to deliver an improved result year-on-year, growing interest income and PAT by 12% and 5% respectively.

“As the company continues to observe safety measures to ensure the safety of staff and customers, we have enhance our virtual channels to meet the needs of our various categories of customers while reducing the need for physical visits significantly. We remain committed to sustaining and improving our service offerings to clients and creating superior value for our investors. As seen in our financials, we recorded some significant improvement in the growth of non-traditional sources of income as revenue from digital consultancy rose by 94% year-on-year.”

The MD/CEO further stated that “At Africa Prudential, we are driven by the desire to continuously leverage technology to redefine value creation and provide exceptional experience to clients across our various touch points, while generating superior value for our investors.”